The Morgan Family History Blog

Eric Temple Bell - important mathematician and Sci-fi writer distantly connected to Draysons

2009-03-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

In the 1990s Granny was contacted by American author Constance Reid, carrying out research for her book The Search for E. T. Bell: Also Known as John Taine. The story as I remember it from Granny and reading the book went as follows.

Her Granny Drayson (mother of Alan and Edwin) also had a daughter, who died as a toddler. The bereft mother had a breakdown and to help her recover, a lady companion was hired, who lived with the family for many years. This was Miss Bell, who was always known to the Draysons as Pieface. There are photos of her among the family archives.

Granny didn't like her Drayson grandmother, nor Pieface, whom she found bitter and sarcastic (cf Arthur Conan Doyle, who enjoyed Arther Drayson's sarcasm. Sarcasm didn't impress Granny much & we used to get black looks if we tried it). She recalled that when Pieface had a letter announcing the death of her brother in the far East, she said "good riddance" and the family were very shocked.

Eric Bell was an influential Scottish-American mathematician - see for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Temple_Bell. Reid's book, as I remember, suggested that there was a mystery connected with his early life and family, possibly connected with the death or disappearance of his father, which he was determined to keep secret and probably lied about.

Meriel's family and Granvile Sharp

2009-02-27T06:04:00.001-08:00

This family tree shows the connection between Meriel's family and the famous abolitionist Granville Sharp. Fanny Mary Smith is Meriel's Great Grandmother. Granville Sharp, and his family, are shown in the painting at the top of this post (the image is a link to the National Portrait Gallery where the picture is on display).

The town names mentioned in the family tree are all situated around Bradford in Yorkshire, as shown in this Google Map. Some more details about that branch of the Sharp family can be found in the book Rambles round Horton by William Cudworth (a description of the history and ancestry of the town of Horton near Bradford).

Uncle Alan's obituary

2009-02-27T05:44:00.000-08:00

Shown below is Uncle Alan's obituary from the 24th April 1964 edition of the Teignmouth Post. The text reads:

The death occurred on Thursday of last week of Brigadier F. G. Drayson, C.B.E., M.C., of Thatch Cottage, Coombe Vale. He was a former member of the Urban Council and was the founder of the Teignmouth Civil Defence Corps.
He took a keen interest in many other local organisations, including the British Legion, the Conservative Association and the Debating and Lecture Society. For years he helped to run the local Tennis Tournament, and was a familiar figure at the Haldon Golf Club until arthritis forced him to become less active.
In 1906, Brigadier Drayson was gazetted Second Lieutenant in the Border J egiment and was stationed at Gibraltar. He was then posted to India where he helped to form the Indian Signal Corps. In World War I he served in France, Belgium and Mesopotamia, and saw further active service during the Afghan War of 1919 and the Waziristan operations of 1919-21 and 1921-24. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1915 and during the period 1914- 24 was four times mentioned in despatches. In 1921 he transferred from the Border Regiment to the Royal Corps of Signals.
The Brigadier was appointed Chief Signal Officer, Northern Command, India, in 1934, and from 1935-39 was C.S.O. Middle East. While stationed at Cairo, he was responsible for all Army radio and telephone communications, not only in Egypt, but also in Palestine and Cyprus.
On the outbreak of World War II, Brigadier Drayson became C.S.O. III Corps, B.E.F., and remained in France until the withdrawal at Dunkirk, after which he received the C.B.E. He was then appointed C.S.O. Northern Command and was stationed at York until his retirement in 1945.

Uncle Alan's uniform

2009-02-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

Uncle Alan served in the Border Regiment and later in the Royal Signals. This is his uniform while serving the in the Border Regiment.

The labels show the name of the military outfitters it was purchased from:

The buttons are emblazoned with a Chinese dragon motif, signifying the Border Regiment's part in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion:

Family link to Sir Richard Grenville.

2009-02-23T06:40:00.001-08:00

This is from Meriel's side of the family, rather than the Morgans.

This is a section of the Sharp Family Tree, taken from Gloucestershire County Records (part of National Archive). Document is from Browne/Murray-Browne family records (ref number D6919/8/1). It is more clear in this image.

This section of the family tree shows Sir Richard Grenville (they spell it Granville) and his wife Mary, their son Sir Barnard Grenville, grandson Sir Basil Grenville, and their connection to the Sharp family through the wife of Thomas Sharp, Judith Wheeler. Thomas Sharp is the father of famous abolitionist Granville Sharp.

Sir Richard Grenville (the link goes to a excerp from The Dictionary of National Biography) was a famous tudor rear-admiral immortalised by Tennyson in the poem The Revenge. Meriel's family is connected to the Sharps through Thomas Sharp's great-grandfather James Sharp (as described in this post).

Alfred Wilkes Drayson writing in Beeton's Boy's Own

2008-11-27T16:02:00.000-08:00

As well as publishing books Alfred Drayson also wrote in "Beeton's Boy's Own" magazine. Here is the cover of a story he wrote entitled "Ingonyama, the Caffre Chief: A Tale of Southern Africa," it is from Boy's Own Magazine (vol.3, pt. 22) 1871 (image is a link to this website).

Obiturary of Alfred Wilkes Drayson

2008-11-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Alfred Drayson's obituary appears in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in February 1902, it appears this is where most of the information in that article by B. E. Schaefer comes from. Bizarrely it gets his middle name wrong, calling him Alfred WILLIAM Drayson, though all the other details clearly refer to Alfred Wilkes Drayson (including the detail about teaching the Duke of Connaught):

ALFRED WILLIAM DRAYSON was born at Waltham Abbey, Essex, in 1827. He received his education at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and obtained his first commission in 1846. He served in the Kaffir war in 1847. and against the insurgent Boers in 1848. In both campaigns his knowledge of the Kaffir and Zulu languages were of great service, He was appointed instructor in surveying and field works at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and shortly afterwards professor of surveying and practical astronomy. During this period he was instructor to the Duke of Connaught. On returning to military duty he was appointed to command the Royal Artillery at Portsmouth. In 1876 he proceeded to India in command of his brigade, and did valuable work in the rearmament of various forts in Bengal. Upon returning to England he was promoted to the rank of General. He retired from the army in 1883, and lived at Southsea till his death on the 27th of September 1901.
General Drayson wrote a number of stories, beginning in 1888 with Sporting Scenes among the Kaffirs, and following with Among the Zulus, The Gentleman Cadet, and many others. He published books on billiards and whist, on both of which games he was an authority.
As a military writer mention may be made of his work on military surveying, which had several editions and was used as a text-book.
In his astronomical writings General Drayson went somewhat astray, in one of these he attributed what were really errors of observation to a gradual increase of the Earth’s diameter; and in another he substituted a geometrical movement of the pole (which more or less accounted for the phenomena of recent years, but which was entirely empirical) for the orthodox precession, nutation, and change in inclination of ecliptic to equator which have a dynamical basis.
General Drayson was of a kindly disposition and made many friends. He passed a long life in great activity and rendered valuable services to his country.
He was elected a Fellow of the Society on the 20th of January 1868.

The Gentleman Cadet

2008-11-25T17:39:00.000-08:00

Among the many books published by Alfred Drayson was "The Gentleman Cadet". A fictionalized account of his time as a cadet at the Woolwich Military Academy, I think aimed at children. The book is out of copyright and available in its entirety here on Google Books.

Shown below are a selection of pages from the book (taken from the Google Books PDF file), including some illustrations of scenes in the book (the illustrations are by C.J. Staniland).

Alfred Wilkes Drayson and Arthur Conan Doyle - continued

2008-11-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

There is more information about Alfred Drayson, and his relationship with Arthur Conan Doyle, in this paper entitled "Sherlock Holmes and some astronomical connections" by B. E. Schaefer.

The Professor Newcomb that the text refers to is Professor Simon Newcomb who was a major scientific inspiration for Conan Doyle. The "Kaffir War of 1847" was I believe the 7th Xhosa War of 1846-1847 (aka "The War of the Axe") and the "insurgent Boers" refers to the rebellion led by Andries Pretorius in 1848 (which was defeated at the Battle of Boomplaats) . Drayson's book "The Gentleman Cadet", which is mentioned, is available online here:

Drayson was a close personal friend of Sir Arthur’s while they lived at Southsea, a town near Portsmouth. England, Their acquaintance was made while Drayson was a patient of Dr Doyle. Their friendship blossomed when Doyle was initiated into the mysteries of spiritualism through seances held at Drayson’s home. The friends met frequently. went on a vacation together. belonged to several of the same learned societies, and Doyle even dedicated a book to Drayson. The two men had many deep conversations that impressed Doyle enough that he would recount them in detail thirty years later. It was during these conversations that Doyle first heard of Professor Newcomb.
Alfred Drayson was a career military man first commissioned in 1846 after graduation from the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. He served in the Kaffir War of 1847 and against the insurgent Boers in 1848, during which his knowledge of the Kaffir and Zulu languages were of great service. Upon return to England, he was appointed as instructor of surveying and practical astronomy at his old Academy. while working part-time at Greenwich Observatory, starting in 1858. He was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1868. although his astronomical writings were of dubious quality (for example. he deduced the gradual expansion of the Earth from observations for which others only saw errors). In 1876, he was sent to India in command of a brigade, where he served in Bengal. He retired from the army in 1883 and moved to Southsea. He wrote two books on the game of whist, at which he was an authority, and made a significant income, He also wrote two books (titled Sporting Scenes among the Kaffirs and Among the Zulus) which gloried in animal hunting in South Africa and the western Himalayas.
Drayson sported a long moustache, a large forehead with receding hairline, and deep-lined brows. He recalls in his book The Gentleman Cadet about his youth when he felt a sense of extra power at the ability to exponentiate numbers in his head with the aid of the binomial theorem. He has been correctly characterized by Doyle’s biographers as an astronomer and mathematician, and his scientific interests closely match those of Professor Newcomb.
In 1875. Colonel Drayson published a paper titled Variation in the Obliquity of the Ecliptic. This article and several similar books advanced an incredible (and wrong) thesis regarding the obliquity on which New- comb was the world’s leading authority. In addition, both observed the 1882 transit of Venus. It would only be natural that the Colonel would meet with the Professor during one of his four visit.s to Greenwich (where Drayson worked) before 1876. although I have found no record of this meeting. However, Drayson does refer many times to the Nautical Almanac (of which Newcoinb was editor) and has disparaged an unnamed winner of the RAS Gold Medal (it can only be Newcomb) who has ignored his results on the obliquity.
Finally, the Professor and the Colonel both shared a deep interest in spiritualism.

Alfred Wilkes Drayson and Arthur Conan Doyle

2008-11-24T14:02:00.000-08:00

As well as being a military man, astronomer, and author, Alfred Wilkes Drayson was a friend of Arthur Conan Doyle. If a note in this addition of "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (made by Christopher Roden) is to be believed:

The angle at which the elliptic (the apparent circle in which the sun describes its annual course across the sky) stands to the equator. The angle has been diminishing for about four thousand years. In choosing this subject for discussion by Holmes, ACD[Arthur Conan Doyle] is recalling a meeting of the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society which took place on 12 Feb. 1884. At that meeting, Major-General Alfred Wilks Drayson, FRAS (I827-1901) spent some time demonstrating how the earth went round the sun, and the moon round the earth, and how the tilt of the earth’s axis was responsible for the change in the seasons. He also discussed the Obliquity of the Ecliptic and this would stay in ACD’s mind for some nine years until he used the phrase in this story. This is not the first instance when the Sherlock Holmes stories show signs of Drayson’s influence. In ch. 2 of “A Study In Starlet”, Watson relates:

"My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary feat that I could hardly realize it.
You appear to be astonished,’ he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. ‘Now that I do know It I shall do my best to forget it.’ "

Drayson had been a professor at the Military Academy at Woolwich, an explorer, and the author of fiction and travel books. In addition, he had been a psychical researcher for thirty years, and had sat with all the leading mediums of the day. It seems almost certain that Drayson was highly influential in turning the young Dr Conan Doyle’s mind towards a deeper study, and eventual acceptance, of the spiritualism which was to become his driving force during the final years of his life. Their friendship led ACD to dedicate a volume of his short stories ‘To my friend Major General A. W. Drayson as a slight token of my admiration for his great and as yet unrecognized services to astronomy’ The title chosen by ACD for the leading story in the eponymous volume (1890) is, perhaps, a demonstration of his sharp sense of humour: "The Captain of the Pole Star".

Here is the dedication that is mentioned in the above passage in the front of "The Captain of The Pole Star":

He is also mentioned in this note, though its not clear what he's referring to as the Google book preview does not contain the start of this note:

for Allahabad, of which ACD would have been given a vivid account by his Southsea patient and mentor, Major-General Alfred Wilks Drayson, who had reported on its defences twenty years after the Indian Mutiny.

Additionally this extract from "Reminiscences of a Municipal Engineer" by H. Percy Boulnois, also mentions Alfred Drayson and his friendship with Arthur Conan Doyle:

Another of my personal friends was Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle, now Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the world-renowned author, and creator of Sherlock Holmes. General Drayson and I and Hugh S. Maclachlan (the then sub-editor of the Hampshire Telegraph), used often to go to Doyle's house after dinner, and, in his smoking-room, discuss all sorts of subjects, from metaphysics to more mundane matters. How well can I remember those enjoyable evenings when we settled mighty problems to our own satisfaction. I find amongst the few letters that I have preserved, one from Mr. Maclachlan, dated December 31, 1891, after I had left Portsmouth, in which he says, inter alia : " How delighted I, too, should be if there could be a repetition of those cosy, chatty smokes at which we penetrated the veil of the future, each in his own particular way. I recall Doyle's bold defiance of conventionalities, Drayson's sarcasms, and your own light keen touch on questions of morality and science. May we meet again some day with spirits just as young, and views as fresh." Maclachlan, soon after this date, became sub-editor of the London evening paper, The Star, and I saw him occasionally, but, alas, he died many years ago

Grandpa Morgan and Granny May in Malaya

2008-11-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Morgan and Granny May with their staff at their rubber plantation in Malaya. Taken circa 1913.

Uncle Gary's Grave

2008-11-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

Grave of Granny's brother Gary in Arnhem from this website.

Granny and Grandpa

2008-11-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

Photos of Granny and Grandpa. Top photo is Granny and Grandpa together, bottom one is Granny and her siblings.

Duppa letter

2008-11-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

Here is another letter from Betty's collection. This one is easier to read. It is from Susan Duppa to her sister. I would take Susan to be about 12. The letter, which is nearly 200 years old, reads like a parody of Jane Austin. One can imagine one of the governesses looking over her shoulder, particularly on the first page where the handwriting is impeccable. It is an amazing document and well worth your time to look at it.

After Charlotte Stephens died our Granny May was brought up by Aunt Kate and Uncle Tom. Kate Duppa Crotch and Tom Nicchols were actually cousins and I believe Charlotte Dix's mother was a Duppa or a Crotch, anyway Kate and Charlotte were cousins. I also believe that Kate and Tom had the same names as two cousins who had married each other a couple of generations before.

Dix letter

2008-11-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

"Granny May" was Martha Dix Stephens, her mother was Charlotte Dix before she became Mrs Stephens. This letter from "Aunt AJ Dix", who I take to be Charlotte's sister, seems to have been written just after Dad's cousin Jack was born. I imagine the boy whose name she wants to know is Jack Molliett. From that we can judge which year it is, and which election she is discussing.

14 Bay View Terrace
Penzance
January 11th.

My dear May,
Thank you for your letter. I got the card all right but as you said you were going to write soon I was waiting to hear from you . I am longing to have further news from Mary I should think some one would soon now I expect she is very proud of her boy I do hope she is going on all right, I had a letter from her last week none in this last mail. I wonder what the boy will be called, I hope Mary will be able to get someone nice to help her. How do you feel now you are an Aunty? I was an Aunt when I was 23, it makes me feel quite ancient to be a great Aunt. I am sorry that Kate has been poorly again. I am keeping about the same still in bed, Elizabeth has had to go to the infirmary to have a tumour removed she went the week before last and came back yesterday but is weak and not up to much yet, I have had her sister with me, and we got on very well but of course I missed Elizabeth I cannot think how she kept up so long as she did, so all that has been rather a worry to me. I am glad you enjoyed your parties and that your horse is all right again. Kittens are aggravating, I wonder they don’t break the things as you have so many Knacks nacks about. I hope poor Nation will not go blind. There is great excitement here about the election but of course I see nothing of it as I am out of everything now. They have had most enthusiastic meetings last week at one of the Unionists meetings there were so many people outside the Hall, who could not get in, they had to divide the meeting, I think Penzance would reurn the Unionist but the outlying districts will get the Liberal in, it was so last time. My arm is aching so I will end with much love to Aunt Kate & yourself
Your affectionate Aunt
AJ Dix

Uncle Alan's Century

2008-11-15T20:12:00.001-08:00

In 1912, Uncle Alan played a match in Rangoon, where he made 137, playing for Burma, against the (Ceylonese) 'Europeans' (the scorecard is online here). Burma won by an innings and 29 runs. In a previous drawn match in the series, he made 79 and 43. After the war, he also played 2 first class cricket matches in the 1918-19 season, averaging 16 and taking a catch (the full list of his scorecards is here). Two photos of Uncle Alan are shown below (the second one is from 1963 the year before he died) , and beneath those are some of the trophies he won.

Alfred Wilkes Drayson at the Royal Military Academy

2008-11-14T23:46:00.001-08:00

Drawing of the Military Professors and Instructors of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich dated 1869. According to the description Alfred Wilkes Drayson is the figure on the far right of the drawing. He also shown in the two photographs.

Guide to posting photos to this blog via Flickr

2008-11-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

This is a description of how to add photos to this blog via Flickr. You don't have to add photos via Flickr, you can upload directly via Picasa, or most other photo sites. However, if you use my Flickr account I have unlimited bandwith account, email me if you want my username/password. Additionally, you can look at the photos I've added to my Flick account and add comments to them, if you know anything about the subject matter or think the description is missing any details.

The easiest way to upload photos is via the Uploadr software, I use this and is convenient and mal-ware free. To post photos from the Flickr website, first log into Flickr (you'll need a Yahoo email account), then goto the "Upload photos and videos link" (via the "You" menu):

Then click on the "Choose picture" link to upload photos from your computer. A file dialog like this one will appear:

Use it to select one, or more, photos then click on "Upload photos" to transfer them to Flickr. Wait for the purple progress bar to go all the way to the right, then click on "Add a description". The following bits of information can be added to the photo in Flickr, as shown below.

Title - This is a short description of the photo (something like: Grandpa in India)
Description - A longer description of the photo.
Tags - A few key words that describe the photo (e.g.: Grandpa, India).

On the top right of the description screen you can add the photo to a "Set". This is a group of a similar photo (e.g. "Photos of Grandpa", or "Wedding Photos"). You use the drop down to select and existing set or choose "Create a new set" to create a new set to add it to. Once your are done editing the description click on "Save". Your "photostream" page will appear showing the photos you just added and any recently added/viewed photos. Click on the photo you want to add to the blog to go to its Flickr page

Before you post the photo on the Blog you'll need to set up a Google account with permission to add posts to the blog. Currently Gareth and Ellis have this permission (again, email Gareth to get this set up). Once that is set up, click on the "Blog this" option above the photo to post that photo to the blog. If you haven't set up a blog on your Flickr account choose "do that now" when prompted. To set up the this blog on you flickr account you'll need to:

Choose "Blogger blog", then Next
Then choose "Head over to google"
Log in using the Google account that has permission to write to the Blog.
Choose "Grant Access"
On the "Add a blog" page choose "All done"
Click on "Return to your blogs page" to return to Flickr

Once the blog is set up on your Flickr account, go to the photo's Flickr page and choose "Blog this", and choose "The Morgan Family History" to add it to the blog. Enter a title for the blog post and a description that will appear next to the photo on the blog, then click "Post Entry".

Grandpa in India

2008-11-13T17:41:00.001-08:00

Photos of Grandpa in India in 1945. Unsure of exact location.

Originally uploaded by gareth_morgan77